The 96-seat restaurant will be taking over the former Riffle space on Northwest Flanders Street and 13th Avenue with a menu of dishes drawn from Gorham's and executive chef/co-owner Kasey Mills' travels through Israel and the surrounding areas.

The menu will be broken into five sections: mezza, oven, grill (on a wood-assisted gas grill), piato and plancha. The mezza section will focus heavily on crudo, carpaccio, vegetable and fish dishes from Greece and North Africa with homemade lebneh, fried smelt, anchovies and octopus. Look for lamb chops, octopus, kebabs and more from the grill. Breads and pita will also be made in-house.

From behind the bar, expect more Mediterranean flavors with cocktails made with figs, dates, rose water and honey from bar manager Jamal Hassan, as well as a Mediterranean and Oregon wine list. Also keep an eye out for their ice program which will include hand-cut ice.

M.E.C. will be located at 333 N.W. 13th Ave. The restaurant will be softly open from July 16, on Wednesdays through Sundays from 5:30 - 10 p.m. After Aug. 1, M.E.C. will be open Sunday-Thursday from 4 - 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. - midnight.